I passed the first round for the Air Force, and the final result comes out on November 25. If I pass, I go in as a computing specialist. At first I was only thinking about Gyeryongdae, because someone at my company went there as a computing specialist.
Then I found out Gyeryongdae is the name of a place. Air Force units and Ministry of National Defense units sit inside it together. So I went back and looked up how units are assigned in the first place. There is no published official scoring, so I collected only the posts from the Air Force community board from 2025 to this year that agree with each other.
The order
Only the enlistment date comes from the official notice. The rest are dates I worked out from the pattern in posts, and they may change.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 2027-01-18 (Mon) | Enlist at Air Force Education and Training Command, Jinju |
| 01-18 to 01-22 | Intake week: ID checks, gear issue, barracks assignment |
| 01-25 to 02-19 | Four weeks of basic training. The Lunar New Year holiday may push it back |
| Around 02-19 | Graduation, two-night leave |
| 02-21 evening | Enter the Information and Communications School in the same command |
| 02-22 to around 03-10 | Two weeks and two days of specialty training. Unit list revealed in the last week, 1st to 3rd choice |
| Around 03-10 to 03-12 | Straight to the unit |
| 2028-10-17 | Discharge (21 months) |
I never found what the list actually looks like. It seems to be internal and never posted outside. Someone apparently mixed up a unit's name and location and ended up somewhere else, so I plan to ask when the time comes. There are only three choices, so each one matters.
How the ranking works
They add your basic training rank within your specialty to your specialty school rank. It adds ranks, not scores, which surprised me. The smaller the sum, the earlier you choose, and on a tie the better specialty school rank wins. Your overall basic training rank does not matter, only your rank among computing specialists. At specialty school you only see your specialty school rank; the combined rank comes out with the assignments.
| Where | Scored on | What posts say |
|---|---|---|
| Basic training | 10 rounds of shooting | The biggest factor, about 2 points per shot |
| Basic training | Theory exam, 30 questions in 30 minutes | Multiple choice. Military ethics (5) and security (4) weigh the most |
| Basic training | Practicals (combat movement, CBRN, drill, calisthenics) | Combat movement is tested eyes closed, step by step. Mixing up the order costs hundreds of places |
| Basic training | Fitness | Finishing gives full marks. Falling behind on the run -5, dropping out -8 |
| Basic training | Bonus and penalty points | Duties earn bonuses. Three surprise barracks inspections |
| Specialty school | Written (HTML, SQL, information security) | A quarter get full marks, 40% miss one |
| Specialty school | Practical (cmd, Control Panel) | Almost everyone gets full marks |
| Specialty school | Duty bonus | Makes up for one or two questions. On equal scores, no penalties ranks higher |
A 2-point penalty reportedly drops you more than 50 places near the top. Because the specialty exam is so easy, one question moves you a lot. The information security part is military-specific and needs memorizing.
The 94 points from my application, my certificates, my degree and my work experience count for nothing here. That felt a bit empty.
Where to go
The tier list going around, shortened:
| Tier | Units |
|---|---|
| 0 | Aviation Safety Agency (Seoul), HQ units in Gyeryong (weather wing, information systems unit, etc.), Boramae Leadership Center |
| 1 | 7th Group (Pyeongtaek), Osan Air Base (Operations Command, support group, intelligence group, etc.), Education and Training Command (Jinju), Logistics Command (Daegu) |
| 2 | Air Force Academy (Cheongju), 5th, 3rd, 10th, 15th and 8th wings, groups |
| 3 | 17th Wing (Cheongju) |
| 4 | 11th Wing (Daegu), Gyeryongdae support group (ministry) |
| 5 to 7 | 20th (Seosan), 1st (Gwangju), 19th (Chungju), other ministry units |
Fighter wings go by number, like the 10th in Suwon or the 17th in Cheongju. Wings bundle phone, roll call and haircut rules across the whole base, so they feel more like the military than command-level units. Most computing specialists go to a wing's communications squadron.
Ministry units sit directly under the Ministry of National Defense. They are not Air Force units, you live alongside the Army and lose Air Force benefits, so everyone avoids them. Even inside Gyeryongdae, the weather wing and the information systems unit are Air Force, while the Gyeryongdae support group is a ministry unit. A name on the list starting with "Armed Forces" or "Defense" is a ministry unit.
Many say computing is fine wherever you go. Still, the bottom ranks go to ministry units and air defense batteries. One cohort of thirty-something specialists reportedly got one wing spot and 20 to 25 battery and ministry spots.
My family home is in Cheonan, so I put Osan and Gyeryong at the top, with Pyeongtaek, Suwon and Cheongju next. I want to avoid ministry units and islands.
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Before enlisting | Study shooting posture, build up to a 3 km run |
| Basic training | Zero penalties, take one duty, reread the basic military knowledge book |
| Specialty school | Full marks on the written exam, memorize information security, duty bonus |
In the end it comes down to shooting in basic training and one question at specialty school.